Through Burning Plains
by HK FrostyMan
Summary: The Covenant swept through the Outer Colonies, destroying Human colonies one by one, taking millions of lives. Jericho VII. The last major Outer Colony world. The battle was horrendous, long, and destructive. TheUNSC Warden is all that stands in their way
1. Chapter 1

**Earth. Atlanta, Georgia, 2518**

A little boy ran around his backyard, playing with his friends. His name was Joshua. Joshua Richmond. His friends were Damian Hammond and Jenny Tarian. The kids were seven years old.

"Haha!" A young Joshua said as he pushed Damian to the ground. He ran and grabbed a blue flag, and began to make his way across the backyard, so he could score. He continued to run until he reached his 'base', and scored.

"Woo-Hoo! I win!" Joshua hooted.

"You got lucky!" A dirty and scraped up Damian said. He walked over to his friend, and shook his hand, in a meaning of "Good Game."

"Do you guys want to go inside now?" Jenny asked, sounding tired. Josh looked over at Damian, and they nodded.

"Sure, let's get something to eat!" The children bounded inside and Josh ran up to his mom, and asked her to make some snacks. She said yes, and the children hungrily devoured their crackers, fruit, and juice.

"Hey guys, do you wanna go and play some more?" Josh asked.

"I have to get home," Jenny said. "And I have to go home too," Damian said.

"Oh, okay." Josh waved his friends off, and sat on the couch in the living room. He turned the TV to a channel, and watched it. He slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**UNSC Halcyon-cruiser _Warden,_ in orbit over Reach, 2535**

A 23-year old Lieutenant Joshua Richmond walked the halls of the _Warden._ "This ship is so damn boring," he muttered to himself. He was just on a walk, trying to find something to do before the next battle. He passed a couple of marines, and asked if they wanted to play poker. They told him that they didn't bet, and Josh just waved them off, seemingly disgusted at their notion. He walked into the cafeteria, and saw a large figure sitting by himself in the corner of a table. "Well, why the hell not," he said as he walked over and sat across from the figure. "Hey, what's up? I'm Lieutenant Josh Richmond, ODSTs," he asked. The man said nothing, and continued to eat.

"Uh, what's your name?" he asked, hoping to start a conversation.

"Mark."

"Last name?"

"046," he said.

"Huh? What kind of a last name is that?" Josh asked as he laughed slightly. 'Mark' said nothing, and went back to eating. Josh left the table, and went to get something to eat. Mark was just about to leave, but Josh came back and sat down. He didn't want to be rude, so he stayed put.

"Hey, sorry about kinda insulting you," Josh said. Mark nodded. "So, uh, are you a, you know, a Spartan?"

"Yes. My name is, formally, Petty Officer First Class Markus-046," he replied.

"That's awesome," Josh said. Mark was surprised, as ODSTs hated Spartans. This guy was different.

"You're different than most ODSTs. Why?" Mark asked.

"In what way?" Josh asked.

"You don't seem to hate me. You're rather nice."

"Oh. You see, I don't see a point in hating other people, you know, like humans. I reserve my hate for the Covenant. Why hate the people on your side? You know?" Josh explained.

"You make a very good point," Mark responded.

"Yeah. Too bad almost nobody else agrees with me," Josh said.

"Yes, that is too bad. If you don't mind, I need to get on my way," Mark said.

"Okay, see ya later," Josh said as Mark left. Josh didn't really eat his food. He just sat there, poking and piddling with his food. _I got too much food, _he thought as he chuckled quietly. It consisted of three pancakes, a pint of milk, eggs, three pieces of bacon, and a small bowl of cereal. He sat at the table for a little over thirty minutes, and ended up finishing his meal. He walked slowly to his quarters, trying to waste as much time as he could. "I freakin' hate space," he said to himself. He'd much rather be in his good ol' ODST armor shooting up some Covenant bastards. Not to mention trying to kill each Covie in the most creative way he could think of. And his imagination was vast. He had stabbed them in the eyes and left them to bleed out, broken their arms and legs and then proceed to cut their tongues off, ripped their mandibles off and made them eat them, and then shoot them in the head. Okay, maybe that last one was a bit gruesome, even for him. But they deserved it. He went mostly for style points, but only when he was able to. He set his mind back on, well nothing actually. But that was the way he liked it. He was about to turn down the hallway to go to his quarters, but he decided to head towards the bridge.

"Sir? May I ask a question?" Josh asked as he stood in salute to Captain Hammond.

"Josh, I thought I told you that you don't have to call me 'sir'. We've known each other for years," the Captain said.

"Sorry Damian. But anyway, do you know how much longer we're going to be floating over Reach? I mean is there any reason why we are here?" Josh asked.

"Honestly, until FLEETCOM says that we're no longer needed here, or unless we're called into another battle, we'll be here for a while. And yes, we are a sort of 'guard' along with the other ships. You know, surveillance," Damian explained.

"Kay, thanks Damian," Josh said as he saluted once more, and turned to walk off of the bridge. Damian nodded, and got back to his duty. Josh walked down the hallway and turned the corner to his room. When he tried to open it, it was locked. He muttered irritatingly under his breath, while punching the correct code into the keypad. The screen flashed, and read ACCESS DENIED. He began to punch in the numbers again, when his eyes gravitated up to the door number, written in small white numbers. "376." He smiled in a sort of embarrassed way, and continued to walk down the hall to his actual room. He came to a door, and checked the number twice. "379." He proceeded to punch in his code, and this time, the door slid open. He walked into his room, and began typing something on his data-pad.

* * *

**Planet Reach, January 23, 2535. 16:27**

Gunnery Sergeant Jennifer Tarian walked the streets of one of the many military bases on Reach. She was going to go to the range, and sharpen her shooting skills. Especially with a sniper rifle. She was her ODST team's sniper. She liked to carry an M392 with her on missions most of the time, because if her target was too close for her sniper rifle, she could take it out with some well-placed headshots. She as wearing her civilian clothes (Although they were bland), as there was no reason to wear her battle armor or her uniform, and a pair of sunglasses. It was a nice, sunny day, about 80 degrees. Just a few clouds in the sky to barely obstruct the sun's rays. She looked up into the sky, and saw a bunch a little black spots in the sky. UNSC ships. Tons of them, because they patrolled Reach's atmosphere pretty much 24/7.

She continued to walk, and eventually arrived at the range. Right before she walked in, her data-pad beeped with a message from none other than Josh Richmond. She smiled, because she had not seen him or Damian for two years now. They had talked, but she had not seen them in person. She pulled the pad out of her pocket, and read the screen.

"_Hey Jenny. It's really boring up here. You doing anything fun?" _She chuckled softly, as Josh was bored all the time. Unless of course he was killing aliens, or playing some sort of sport. He was definitely an outdoorsman. She quickly typed back a reply, which read, "_About to go to the range, nothing much after that." _She slipped the data-pad into her pocket, and walked to the armory, and picked up her desired weapons. She had her own 'custom' sniper rifle, which had an ivory plated grip, an oracle scope with 20x optical zoom, the initials '_JT' _carved crudely onto the mag well with a combat knife, and an extra half-inch of rubber butt plating. Not that she couldn't take the recoil, but she liked to be comfortable while sniping. She walked over to an open 'slot', and began to load her sniper rifle.

She aimed down her scope, and brought her eye steadily closer to the scope. But not close enough to get 'scope-eye'. Speaking of that, it hurts like hell. She had gotten it only once, because for most people, when you get it the first time, you never do it again. She fired a few shots downrange at an Elite target, and was satisfied with the three headshots that she got. This also made sure that her scope was calibrated correctly. She reloaded, and began to shoot again. She never missed, out of 24 shots. She was shooting from about 150 yards from where she was shooting. Once she was satisfied with her marksmanship, she cleaned her rifle, and she switched to her MA37. Although she would rather have used an DMR, she still needed to sharpen up her skills with this weapon. She slapped a new magazine into her gun, and starting firing on semi-auto. She emptied the 32-round magazine, and replaced it with a new one. She began to fire on full-auto, and was surprised at the rounds' grouping. Sixty-four large brass shells later, Jenny picked up all her expended shells, and cleaned her weapons thoroughly.

She turned her data-pad back on, and checked for any new messages from Josh. Sure enough, there was. She opened it, and it said, "_Oh cool. So I hear you're on Reach. That's cool, because Damian and I are in orbit around Reach." _Her eyes started to glow faintly and a smile crept across her face, because her two best friends were close. Although, there was the large chance that they wouldn't be able to come down to the planet and see her. That thought caused her smile to slowly decease. She decided to head back to her quarters, where she could talk to Josh in private. She didn't have anything personal to tell him, but she didn't like being public about most things. She was mostly intrapersonal. She walked somewhat fast, but slow enough to still appreciate the beauty of Reach. She put her sunglasses back on over her eyes, and continued towards the base.

She walked into her room, and sat down at her desk, which she had made into a "study". She pulled out her data-pad, and connected it to her computer. She touched the correct buttons to connect to his pad, and it took a few seconds to bring up his face.

"Hey," she said as she smiled.

"_Hey Jenny, long time no see eh?" _Josh said while laughing.

"Actually, it's only been a few weeks," Jenny said.

"_Haha, leave it to you to get all technical on me." _Jenny smiled, and Josh continued to talk, preventing her from saying anything in response.

"_Wow, you're smile is as beautiful as ever, Jenny." _This caused her to blush, and smile again.

"Thanks. You know, you've never really commented on my smile before."

"_Well I should have. It's definitely something you can't miss. Guys would be really lucky to have you," _Josh said, and Jenny could feel her cheeks returning to their previous red-tinted state.

"Thanks, you're not so bad yourself," she said as she smiled playfully. Josh raised one eyebrow, and said, "_That's not what you thought a few years back." _Jenny knew what he was referencing to, when they had dated a few years ago.

"That was then, and this is now," she said in a surprisingly stern manner.

"_Sorry I brought that up_," Josh apologized. Jenny nodded, and her eyes watered slightly, but not enough for Josh to see.

"Hey, can you get Damian?" Jenny asked.

"_I don't think so, he's the Captain now, and he was busy when I went to see him," _Josh replied. Jenny looked surprised.

"Damian? A Captain? That's awesome, I wish I could talk to him though."

"_Yeah, so I gotta go, Captain said we're entering slip-space. Going to Jericho VII," _Josh explained. Jenny was disappointed, that yet again she wouldn't be able to see her friends. Jenny muttered an "Okay" and a "Goodbye." Connection was soon lost, and Jenny decided to get some sleep, even though it was only 1800 hours.

* * *

**UNSC _Warden, _en route to Jericho VII, via Slip-Space, Time: N/A**

There was nothing to look at but blackness. Dark, enshrouding, blackness. But that's how it was in Slip-Space, no stars, no planets, but just darkness. Josh sat at the observation deck, bored yet again. He looked around, sick of sleeping, sick of walking, and sick of just doing nothing. He was actually considering going into cryo sleep. The only thing keeping him was the horrid taste of the fluids they use to keep you fed, and freezer burn. That stuff just sucked. _Screw it, I'd rather be bored than burned, _he decided.

He forced himself up, and and decided to go to the gym. He walked the long corridors of the ship, passing several marines who were just walking to keep themselves awake. He said a simple "Hello" or "Hey" to whomever he saw. He eventually made it to the gym, which was a good size seeing as this was a large ship. He proceeded to rack up his weights, totaling 250 lbs. Right before he was about to start, he looked over and saw Markus benching.

"Hey Mark, how much you benchin'?" Josh asked. Mark stopped and looked over.

"600."

"Nice. How many reps?"

"Usually 150. But I'm at 223 right now."

"Damn! That's awesome. Alright, cool," Josh said as he got back to benching. He completed 20 reps, and called it a day. He usually did more workouts, but he was feeling particularly tired. Though he had no idea why.

Captain Damian Hammond stood at the bridge of his ship, the _Warden, _and watched, well nothing. He was just standing there, doing his job. Captaining the ship. Sometimes it got boring, but it was far from uneventful. Most of the time. Slip-space was boring enough though, so standing up and doing nothing was almost unbearable. He had nothing to do, but captain the ship. Not until he exited slip-space, however. He had received a call to go and guard Jericho VII, as it was one of the last major colonies in the Outer Colonies. He thought, as usual, that it would be another boring 'shift', and it would be waste of time. But he was wrong. Very, very wrong.

* * *

**A/N: Not much action, but this chapter was mainly focusing on introducing the main characters. There will be more action in the next chapter, and chapters to come. And for those of you who don't know what 'scope-eye' is, it's when you put your eye to close to the scpe on your rifle, and the recoil sends it crashing into your face. It leaves a circular cut. Not fun. **

-**TV**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys, I'm back again, with the 2nd chapter. By the way, 'MSC' stands for 'Minor Setting Change', like within a ship to a different character. Anyway, enjoy the chapter. (I do not own Halo, all OCs are mine)**

**UNSC _Warden, _close to Jericho VII, Slip-space, Time: N/A**

Captain Hammond stood at the bridge of the _Warden, _watching the dark, thinking about the mission at hand. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Ensign Senskey said,

"We'll be exiting slip-space soon, sir!"

"Thank you, Ensign," Damian said. He continued to watch, until the ship started to emerge from slip-space. The stars and planets unfolded before his eyes, and he looked on in awe. Space always amazed him, although he had seen it many, many times before.

"Captain, sir!" Damian heard. He turned around, and saw a marine, a sergeant, standing in front of him.

"Yes, sergeant?"

"When will we be dropped to Jericho VII?" he asked.

"Probably never, sorry."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." The marine cracked a sharp salute, and walked off the bridge. Damian turned back to the console.

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Josh sat with Mark in the cafeteria, talking. They were not eating, just talking.

"So where are you from?" Josh asked.

"I am from Biko, yourself?"

"Earth. Atlanta, Georgia," Josh replied.

"What about a family?" Mark asked.

"Mom and Dad, two sisters, and a brother. Alicia's a doctor, Olivia's a businesswoman, and George is the UNSC. He's stationed on Reach. I'm the oldest," Josh said, "What about you? You gotta family?"

Mark felt a pang of pain in his chest. He had been taken from his family at 6, the other Spartans were his only real family.

"I was kidnapped at 6. Conscripted in to the SPARTAN-II Program. My only family is the Spartans," Mark said.

"Oh. . . Sorry I brought that up," Josh apologized.

"It's okay. How many battles have you been in?"

"Honestly, I don't know. A lot," Josh said.

"Same here. I have been in a large amount of conflicts in the ten years that this war has gone on," Mark said.

"What about girlfriends?" Josh asked.

"Girlfriends? I have a lot of girlfriends. There's Kelly, Linda, Sheila, Alice, all the female Spartans," Mark replied. Josh chuckled slightly.

"No, no, I mean like, had an intimate relationship with a girl," Josh explained.

"No, I have not. How about you?"

"I have. This one girl and I were engaged. She was also in the UNSC..." his tone got increasingly solemn, "She was murdered in a battle. And I saw it happen. She was killed by an Elite, with an energy sword... Her name was Elsie, Elsie Banks," Josh said.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I'm afraid I need to leave," Mark said. Josh nodded, and Mark got up. Josh was left in the cafeteria, thinking about how he couldn't save Elsie.

**

* * *

**

**Planet Reach, January 25, Military Base, 0600 hours**

Jenny woke up, and stretched. She slipped on light jogging clothes, and went on her early morning mile run. Reach wasn't that different in the morning, and it was still somewhat dark. The jog took her around six and half minutes, and she jogged back to the base. She walked to the mess hall, and took a seat next to Tyler Foss.

"Hey Tyler," she said.

"What's up Jen? Just got back from your run I see," he said as he stuffed a rather large piece of a pancake in his mouth.

"Yeah, I'm pretty bored down here."

"Tell me about it," Tyler said with food in his mouth.

"I think I'm going to the gym," Jenny said as she got up from the table.

"Okay, see ya later Jen," Tyler said. Jenny waved goodbye, and walked to the gym. She walked in, and began lifting.

Jenny sat on her bed, and checked the time on her data-pad. 1000 hours, 10:00. She thought about nothing, hoping she would be called on some sort of mission.

_Buzz... Buzz... Buzz..._

Jenny looked down at her data-pad, and saw a message. It was Major Fry. The message read: "Gunnery Sergeant Jennifer Tarian, report to my office, ASAP." Jenny got up, and walked to Major Fry's office. She passed Tyler on the way, who was also headed to Maj. Fry's office.

"You headed to Fry's too?" he asked. Jenny nodded, and Tyler continued to talk. "You know why?"

"No idea. Just told me to come as soon as possible," Jenny said.

"Same here. Guess we'll find out," Tyler shrugged. Jenny shrugged also. The pair arrived at Fry's office, which was very large. When they walked in, the other three members of Jenny's team, Danica, Harold, and Fred, were already standing there. Jenny stood beside Danica, and Major Fry began to talk.

"Good morning. Is it still morning?" Fry leaned over and checked his clock, "It is! Well, good morning Hammer, I bet you're all wondering why you were called here this morning. The five of you are to be stationed on the UNSC Destroyer, _Ocean, _by 1200 hours. This ship will take you to Jericho VII, to stand guard on the planet. I know it sounds boring, but it is needed. You will all need to be prepared for battle, just in case a battle ensues. You have a little under two hours to suit up, get to your Pelican, and get on the ship. Good luck. Dismissed."

Jenny's team walked to the armory together, and threw on their ODST Battle Armor. Fred spoke up first, and broke the strange silence that was enshrouding the armory.

"I hope we get some action. I hate doing nothing."

"Agreed," the rest of the team said in unison. It took a little over ten minutes to get everything situated. To get armor on, gather weapons, ammo, and other needed equipment. They wasted no time, and got to their assigned Pelican. Jenny checked her watch on her wrist, and it read: 10:26. She walked to the cockpit, and addressed the pilot.

"Excuse me, pilot. We are ready for takeoff," she said.

"Already, ma'am?" he asked. Jenny looked into the troop bay, and asked if her team was ready to takeoff to _Ocean. _The team gave a shout of OK, and she turned back to the pilot.

"Ready when you are." The pilot nodded, and released the landing gear. The engines roared to life, as the Pelican ascended from the base. The troop bay door closed, and the Pelican flew through Reach's skies to _Ocean. _

**

* * *

**

**UNSC _Warden, _Lambda Serpentis System, in orbit around Jericho VII. January 25, 2535**

"Plot orbit around Jericho VII. Keep all weapons on standby," Captain Hammond said. He heard a satisfying "Yes Sir!", and he started to relax as the ship flew around the planet. He sat down in his chair, and opened a book. It was book that dated back all the way to the 18th century. It was called Treasure Island, written by Robert Louis Stevenson. He opened the book to the last page he was on, and read.

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Mark woke up in his room, and got a strange feeling. A feeling that Jericho VII was going to be attacked. He heeded this feeling, and headed to the armory to get suited up in his MJOLNIR Mk IV armor.

He got dressed, and brushed his teeth. He walked along the halls of _Warden_, and ran into Josh. He said hello, and of course, started to talk.

"What are you doing, Mark?" he asked.

"Going to suit up," he replied.

"Do you really think that the Covenant is going to attack?" he asked.

"Honestly, yes, I do. Why wouldn't they?" Mark said.

"I don't know. Well, I'm super freakin' hungry, so I see ya around," Josh said as he started to walk away. Mark nodded, and continued to the armory. He arrived swiftly, and motioned for the technicians to help him put his armor on. He watched as the technicians applied his alloy plates, and he watched carefully to make sure he could put it on fast in a pinch. 15 minutes later, the technicians were finished, and they handed him his helmet. He put it on, and the ever familiar HUD sprang up. He smiled, although no one could see him. The Captain's voice came over the intercom, saying:

"_Spartan-046, report to the bridge immediately." _

Mark complied, and hurried off to the bridge. When he arrived, Captain Hammond was looking out of the observation port, with a rather grim look on his face. He turned to face him, and began to talk.

"See for yourself," he said as he motioned towards the window. Mark looked out, and saw two CCS-class Battlecruisers. _Holy shit... _He thought as he looked at the ships.

"Here's the plan. We're not going to fire until they do. I've already received confirmation that we have a UNSC destroyer coming to our aid in guarding. Just wait until they get here and see that they're not guarding, but fighting. Anyway, I've already called for any other Nearby UNSC forces to come to our aid. We'll need to prepare for boarding parties, if they even bother. I will send you, and most of our marines down to the planet if they deploy ground troops. You will command them. That is only if they do. Is that understood?" Damian said.

"Yes, sir!" Mark responded. Damian nodded, and went to talk on the intercom.

"_Attention all crew, we have two Covenant Battlecruisers in sight. Prepare for battle and boarding parties. We will not fire until they do. Reinforcements are imminent. Good Luck. That is all." _Captain Hammond dismissed Mark, and he ran to the armory to supervise the collection of weapons.

**

* * *

**

**UNSC Destroyer _Ocean, _Jericho VII, January 25, 2535**

Jenny looked out of the observation deck, in horror, as she saw two Covenant ships closing in on Jericho VII. The announcement for battle had already been issued, and she knew she had to get to the armory and suit up. So, she did just that. She walked swiftly to the armory, and found her own battle suit. It took her less than 5 minutes to get it all on and situated. She grabbed her favored DMR and her custom sniper rifle, and went to the SOEIV hangar, awaiting her drop. She video-called Josh on her VISR, and waited.

_(_On _Warden_)

Josh ran down the halls to the the armory, and gathered his battle armor, and picked up a M392 and a DMR. He applied his armor in record time, and loaded up on magazines for his respective weapons. He slid on his familiar ODST helmet, and saw the VISR come up. Everything checked out, and he headed to the SOEIV hangar on the ship, and was surprised when he got a call from Jenny. He quickly answered it, and Jenny's face appeared on his VISR.

"Hey Jenny, what's up?" Josh asked.

"_Preparing for battle, you?" _she said.

"Same here. How was the ride?" he asked.

"_Fine, uneventful, but fine. I'm just ready to kick some Covenant ass."_

"Nice, me too. I have to go, though. See ya planet-side. If they attack," Josh said.

"_Okay, bye," _Jenny smiled, and her face disappeared from the VISR. He looked around the hangar, and saw the other ODSTs preparing to drop. He was also surprised when he saw Mark standing there, supervising. He walked over to him.

"Sup man? How ya doin'?" he asked.

"Very well. How about you?" he said.

"Great. Ready to kill some Covies."

"Same here. Looks like we're ready to go planet-side if needed," Mark said.

"Yeah. Looks like we are."

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"This is Captain Damian Hammond of the UNSC _Warden. _Requesting for any nearby UNSC forces to come for aid. We have two Covenant Battlecruisers here. We need backup immediately." This was Damian's third time calling for backup. He needed to make sure that someone would answer his call. Before he knew it, Ensign DeWalt was shouting.

"Plasma torpedoes coming from the Battlecruiser sir! They're headed for the _Ocean_!"

"ETA of impact?" he asked.

"45 seconds, sir!"

"They won't have enough time," he whispered quietly, "Contact them, tell them to brace for impact. There's nothing we can do."

"Yes sir!" DeWalt said, and he quickly contacted Captain Patterson of the _Ocean. _He watched as the flash of blue light fly by the ship, and collide into the side of the _Ocean. _

"Fire the MAC gun!" he commanded. Damian watched as three rounds from the MAC gun collided into the side of Battlecruiser. He saw the shield flicker and die with the first two shots, and the third went straight into the heart of the ship. It was damaged, but it held up.

"Move in, and fire Archer missile pods A through D!" Damian ordered. The ship moved in accordingly, and fired its Archer missiles. Hundreds of missiles streaked through space, and hit the Covenant ship. The ship started to explode on different parts, and then, in a brilliant explosion, blew up, and was just an assortment of floating metal. Cheers went out among the bridge, and Damian smiled, but he new they were not done yet.

"Sir! Three UNSC ships, two destroyers, a Marathon-class cruiser, have arrived in aid! They are called, destroyers first, _Might of Reach, Siren, _and _Chimaera," _Lieutenant Strahovski said.

"Good, thank you lieutenant," Damian said as he focused in on the next Covenant ship. Just then, Ensign Senskey talked, frantically.

"Sir, there are three enemy contacts! Three more Battlecruisers!" _Damn... _Damian thought. He contacted all of the UNSC ships, and gave a message.

"All UNSC ships in orbit of Jericho VII, there are a total of four Covenant Battlecruisers. There are five of us. Odds are not on our side. Send as many ground troops as you can, and prepare for battle. Hammond out." He then commanded all of the ready forces on his ship to drop to the planet. Just then, just as he had ordered all troops to drop, he saw tons of Covenant dropships heading for Jericho VII.

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Josh hurried to his own drop pod. Damian had just ordered for all forces to drop, and he was not going to question it. He was excited, and ready to drop. He latched his weapons to the holders in his SOEIV, and climbed in. He latched the door shut, and looked over at a small picture of Elsie that was in his pod. "Wish me luck," he said. Then, just like that, the floor dropped open, and his pod, along with others, was sent hurtling through the atmosphere, to the surface of Jericho VII.

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**There's chapter 2, hope ya liked it. Tell me what you think with a review! Thanks in advance,**

**-TV **


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